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Mirai Nagasu is ‘very disappointed’ after ‘Dancing with the Stars’ elimination

Like many fans, Mirai Nagasu is “very disappointed” at falling just short of the “Dancing with the Stars: Athletes” final, but she’s taking it all in stride. “I am so grateful for this opportunity and, yes, I’m very disappointed,” she tells “Entertainment Tonight.” “You know, sometimes life throws you lemons and you make lemonade with it.

Despite being one of the strongest and highest-scoring contestants of the season, Nagasu and her partner Alan Bersten were eliminated in Monday’s ruthless triple elimination. “We usually like surprises, but this wasn’t a good surprise,” Bersten quips.

The pair had scored a 35 for their quickstep, but lost the Ballroom Battle and thus, two extra points, to Nagasu’s BFF Adam Rippon, who advanced to the final with Josh Norman and Tonya Harding. That means the figure skater won’t realize her goal of competing against Rippon for the Mirrorball trophy, but she says she’ll be at the finale “as team support.”

The Olympic bronze medalist says she “loved every second” of the truncated season and is happy her longtime dream of doing the show came into fruition. “Whether it was a difficult moment and we had to fight to get past it, it wasn’t easy for me to learn the dance steps and I think that I had so much fun,” she says. “I’d been waiting for this for a long time and I really truly can’t wait to see what’s in the future for me. I hope more opportunities like this come up, because I think I’ve really grown as a person and as a performer.”

Bersten echoes those sentiments. “I just want to say Mirai did such a good job this whole season and every week she really grew,” he says. “She didn’t just learn the steps, she learned how to dance. And it was a lot of fun and I’m gonna miss it.”

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